The Claire Byrne Show
A Cat the most destructive, invasive predators in the natural world
08 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance. I'm going to talk about cats because your adorable pet cat is also considered one of the most destructive invasive predators in the natural world. Despite warnings from international organisations, we still have a great affinity for the animal.
They're a major part of our home life, but do we know exactly what they get up to when they leave the house? My next guest says we need to change how we deal with cats. Senior Project Manager of Breeding Waders EIP, Owen Murphy. Owen, good morning to you. Good morning, Owen.
Chapter 2: What makes cats considered invasive predators?
Can you hear me? Oh, great. Sorry, I couldn't hear you there for a second. Do you realise the trouble you're going to get into now, saying that we need to be wary of our cats? They're very much loved.
Yeah, look, we face this thing when it comes to predation and predation pressure on some of our ground nesting birds. we're constantly having these conversations. So it's certainly not the first time I've talked to people about cats and the ability of cats to hunt and kill a lot of our native species.
So these lovely cats that go out with their beautiful collars and their brushed coats and they're well fed, they can't be sated, can they? They're still looking for prey at night.
Yeah, in a lot of cases. And I suppose there's two aspects to this. We have domesticated cats that live at home and are fed and are looked after. And we also have a very high population of feral cats. So they're domestic cats, but they live in the wild or they live semi-wild. They come in and out of houses occasionally to get food, but they spend a lot of their time hunting.
So it's probably useful to distinguish between the two of them. But people, I suppose in general, they love their pets. We all love our pets. and they can get their backs up a little bit if you're pointing the finger at their pets and saying they're causing a downward pressure.
But we all need to be realistic and I suppose we need to be adult and we need to start the conversation of what the impact these cats are having on native birds. And I suppose a lot of people don't realise that although cats are with us for quite a long time, they aren't native to Ireland. So they're a non-native predator
And if they're just allowed to roam and do whatever they want in the countryside, they will have a negative impact on our native creatures. And I suppose it's important to say that some of the native creatures that I'm talking about have declined so much in population over the last 40 or 50 years that they're teetering on the brink of being extinct as breeding species in Ireland.
So they're right on the edge.
So the native species that you're concerned about, they're some of them in decline. The cat population isn't, though.
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Chapter 3: How do cats impact native bird populations?
So it's one of those things that in order to get a handle on what you're dealing with, I suppose, probably need to have an in-depth look into what they're hunting, how they're hunting. And that can be done, you know, in modern times through GPS collaring and these sort of things.
So from your point of view in your role as senior project manager with breeding waders, what problems do cats pose?
Yeah, we would do a lot of surveying early morning, at night and late evenings. And when you're going down country lanes that are remote areas, I mean, not necessarily really close to any sort of built up areas, our nest protection officers and our survey workers would report cats really, really frequently.
And these cats aren't, you know, sitting in somebody's house or sitting outside somebody's house. They're out in the countryside. They're on our lanes. They're in our fields. So those cats are actively hunting.
And when we look at predation pressure and we're looking at the pressures that other, you know, native predators put on these birds, we need to start folding in, well, what is the pressure that non-native species put on it? You know, and then the Breeding Waiter EAP has a bolt-on project in collaboration with the National Association of Regional Game Councils and the NPWS
and we're looking at invasive American mink, and they're a wild living species. But cats that are out in the wild and living wild have a similar impact on birds. So it's to try and assess what they're doing and how important that is. There's a multitude of other factors, so nobody's jumping up and down and saying cats are the only problem and cats are doing this.
But they're one of the factors that are leading to the massive decline in birds around the country.
So, I mean, I know you've suggested that we count them and we try and find out how many cats we have in Ireland and that would be a start. But are there any other things we could possibly do, like registering our cats, licensing them, microchipping them that might help?
Yeah, I mean, any of those things will probably help because they will all help us to get a handle on how many cats we have in the country and what our cats are doing and how many are associated with households. I mean, I don't like to advocate for extra costs on any household, but if there was a way of registering your cat and it didn't cost a fortune and it wasn't
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Chapter 4: What are the differences between domestic and feral cats?
Do you think that might work?
I don't know. I mean, it's possibly how do you enforce a curfew? I mean, it's about changing people's perceptions. And any time that I have this conversation with people, you know, people get very sort of heated saying about cats and cats have been here a long time. And, you know, there's a lot of other things happening and other things have impacts on birds. And it's all true.
Loads of other things have impacts on birds.
So when we and the state and Europe are investing money and trying to protect some of our ground nesting birds, it's important that we look at all the factors so that if we're paying landowners to manage land in a certain way, if we're paying nest protection officers to try and keep nests safe, if we're collecting data, if we're doing scientific studies, well, if part of the problem is free roaming cats, well, we need to look at how we address that.
And, you know, keeping cats in... and seeing, you know, stopping them, I suppose, from accessing the wider countryside. You know, if people want to have cats out in their own garden, I mean, I can't advocate for what somebody does in their own private garden. But once that cat goes outside your garden, it's not hurting wildlife. You don't know what it's doing.
No, you don't. Lynette's listening and she wants to know if we can have a low-cost neutering plan because it's so expensive. So she says it would be extremely helpful if that was in place, that you could get your cat neutered for, you know, a subvented fee.
Yeah, and I think that's already the case. I think the Blue Cross do subsidise neutering of cats. It certainly has been a scheme. Some of the local bets and at loan at one stage were advertising and Roscommon were advertising So that's definitely something. All those steps, I mean, that would be hugely beneficial, especially for cats that are outdoor cats or feral cats.
And maybe, I mean, something to do with breeding cats or having to have a license to breed cats, because a lot of the time, you know, we have a cat and then the cat has kittens and the kittens disperse and go off about or we give them to neighbours or friends. And, you know, it sort of it just keeps the ball rolling and we just keep getting more and more cats.
We'll leave it there for now, but if anyone has any ideas as to how we should or could control our cat population, get in touch with us on 087 1400 106.
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